Home Claiming on home insurance

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The panel is so the insurance company can get a quote to see if your own quote is in the correct region. The panel is also used when a policy holder does not know any builders. The panel builder normally know that they have to be pricing keen to stay on the panel.

You can always use your own builder but he must be pricing keen as te insurance company will only pay out on what it costs to repiar. If their own panel builder says it can be done for €100 thats all they will pay even if your builder says it will cost €150

Some insurers are now trying to force policyholders to use their panel builders only.
If you do not accept their panel builder they will not pay your claim.
I have experience of dealing with one case where the insurer would not accept a quote from the insureds own builder even though it was cheaper then the quote from their panel builder.

This story appeared in the Evening Herald on Saturday.

It confirms the original question about panels and has an interesting perspective from the Consumers Association as well as from those of us involved in the claim:

Evening Herald Sat 22 August
Claire Murphy

This Dublin family were told that they must use a builder nominated by their insurance company, despite finding a contractor who gave a cheaper estimate for repair work.
FBD Insurance told the Sherlock family that they would honour a claim for work on their house only if it was carried out by a nominated builder from a panel compiled by the company.
Brian Sherlock, from Balbriggan, said that he obtained a quote for €27,000 from insuranceworks.ie to mend damage cause by a leaking tank.
However, FBD insisted that the family use another builder who, they say, quoted them a price that was more than 10pc higher.
Brian, his wife Valerie, son Adam (4) and 15-month-old baby Codie are eager to have the repairs done quickly, but were perplexed by the conditions.
Trust
Mr Sherlock said: "Apart from the difference in costs, we want someone we know and trust who can come into the house.
"We have a newborn baby in our house and our place is in bits. It's very concerning.
"I'm cautious about letting someone I don't know into my house."
A representative for FBD said that it cannot comment on individual cases, but revealed that the insurer was bringing in a programme which was similar to one used by motor insurance firms.
The spokesperson said: "We are in the early stages and are piloting the system in some areas.
"Other insurers may be considering introducing something similar."
And the representative said that they would always obtain the most competitive price.
"FBD are interested in getting the best value for their clients," they said. "There is a requirement where the standards have to be signed off for future risk assessment."
But Dermot Jewel, of the Consumers' Association, feared that consumers could lose out.
He said: "If you create a panel or a pool whereby you eliminate choice and/or competition, it is a backwards step.
Essential
"It doesn't benefit the consumer. The only people it benefits are those on the panel.
"Obviously, the quality of work is essential. But this system potentially eliminates a good quality individual to carry out the work to a high standard, if they are not on the panel.
"The Insurance Federation and insurers need to bring it to the attention of the customer at the point of sale, otherwise it is not acceptable."
Joe Doyle, managing director of insuranceworks.ie, which deals with the claims handling and source-qualified trade professionals, said it has written to the Financial Regulator to ask it to investigate FBD's approach.
He said: "It creates some type of closed network.
"It's taking the right to choose away from the consumer.
"At a time when building costs are falling rapidly, this is anti-competitive.
"It is preventing a similar fall in rebuilding costs and, subsequently, in insurance premiums being passed on to consumers."



It will be interesting to see how extensive the pilot scheme is or whether it will be allowed to continue.


Joe
www.insuranceworks.ie

I am having a problem with water damage at the moment and the loss adjusters came up with a silly quote. Can I demand the insurance company send out different loss adjusters.

tom135 said:

I am having a problem with water damage at the moment and the loss adjusters came up with a silly quote. Can I demand the insurance company send out different loss adjusters.

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I am a loss assessor and in my experience I have never seen an Insurer replace an adjuster on the basis that the insured is not happy with an offer.
Get a loss assessor to handle the claim on your behalf and negociate a settlement that reflects the scope and the full cost of repairs.

We deal with these scenarios on a daily basis, the key thing to remember in these instances is that the Loss Adjuster is appointed by the insurer to keep the cost down and ensure that he does not make a payment for more than is necessary. The best way to deal with that is to have a professional deal with it on your behalf.

point taken but i have solid wood floors that have a 3 inch bow in them but the adjuster says it is not bad enough. what is bad enough. in my humble opinion its a bit of a joke.

tom135 said:

point taken but i have solid wood floors that have a 3 inch bow in them but the adjuster says it is not bad enough. what is bad enough. in my humble opinion its a bit of a joke.

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The loss adjuster is chancing his arm.
Get a loss assessor to look after this for you.

tom135 there are two professionals now talking to you , why dont you pm one or both of them and see if they can do anything for you

tom135 said:

point taken but i have solid wood floors that have a 3 inch bow in them but the adjuster says it is not bad enough. what is bad enough. in my humble opinion its a bit of a joke.

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It sounds like you are being short changed. Get an assessor on it but make sure they are:

a) regulated by the financial services ombudsman
b) use only qualified, professional staff with insurance experience
c) don't make you use their own builders for the job. You are much better getting a cash settlement and then you can go about finding your own builder / tradesman to do the job. Some assessing companies will only deal with the claim for you if they get the building job as well. This leaves you with no free choice and their work might not be any good.

I would liketo use my own builder to do repairs in my home. Is there a way that my builder can get on the panel? if not, should he be reporting this situation to some goverment body that covers anti competitive behaviour?

SineadM said:

It sounds like you are being short changed. Get an assessor on it but make sure they are:

a) regulated by the financial services ombudsman
b) use only qualified, professional staff with insurance experience
c) don't make you use their own builders for the job. You are much better getting a cash settlement and then you can go about finding your own builder / tradesman to do the job. Some assessing companies will only deal with the claim for you if they get the building job as well. This leaves you with no free choice and their work might not be any good.

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Well I qualify on all your points.
I am more then happy to recomend builders but if the Insured has their own builder it does not concern me at all.
The insured is my client not the builder.

As regards panels the only insurer currently using one is FBD and I think that if your own builder is quoting a cheaper rate for the job it will be difficult for FBD to defend their position.

Guys and Gals,I'm actaully in the middle of a claim with FBD myself and after getting a builders quote, civil engineer's report the 3rd party loss adjusters are still stonewalling me with a really low figure which will not cover the cost to reinstate.They will not even enter into debate with me over the damage, I have 2 leaking adjoining shower units which destroyed a ceiling directly beneath, the stud partition around the shower unit and the floor boards beneath the shower units themselves.We opened the claim in April '09 and remains open.Our insurance has come up for renewal again and they've increased our premium by €250 this year because we have a pending claim and we cannot move because we have an open claim
I'm now dealing with the ombudsman on the matter,FBD are going the same way as Quinn Insurance now but still have the high premiums.They used to be great to deal with, not any more I'm afraid.